L2 Lexical Inference of Japanese Onomatopoeia: Focusing on Proficiency and Cue Use in Unknown Words and Unknown Meanings of Known Words

Abstract

This study investigated how L2 proficiency (higher vs lower group) and the types of cues used during inference affect the accuracy of learners' meaning inference of Japanese onomatopoeia, focusing on unknown words and unknown meanings of known words. Data were collected through individual interviews in which each target word was presented in a single sentence. The results showed that inference accuracy was lower for items with known meanings than for those without, particularly among the lower-proficiency group. For unknown meanings of known words, higher proficiency was associated with higher accuracy, and the higher-proficiency group benefited from using the sentence meaning cue, whereas no cue significantly contributed to accuracy in the lower-proficiency group. Although not statistically significant, both groups showed high accuracy when they inferred unknown meanings based on known meanings of the target word, but the lower-proficiency group used it less frequently. In contrast, for unknown words, no proficiency difference was observed, and both groups relied effectively on sentence meaning and world knowledge. These patterns may be explained by two factors: erroneous inferences caused by being influenced by known meanings, and the possibility that using the known-meaning cue and integrating multiple cues impose greater processing demands on lower-proficiency learners. Furthermore, the use of sound symbolism, a cue specific to onomatopoeia, was limited overall and tended to cluster around certain limited sounds.